Hollow Chest
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- CHF 4.50
Beschreibung des Verlags
Debut author Brita Sandstrom arrives with an unforgettable modern folktale of the darkness around and inside us, and the courage it takes to keep hope alive.
“Hollow Chest is remarkable on so many levels—its exquisite writing, its startling originality, its deep empathy. An astonishing debut.” —Anne Ursu, award-winning author of The Lost Girl
Charlie has been having nightmares. Eyes watching him in the night, claws on his chest, holding him down. His dreams have been haunted for years, ever since German bombs rained down on London, taking his father’s life, taking his city’s spirit, taking his beloved brother, Theo, off to war in France.
Now Charlie is left to take care of his grandpa Fitz while his mother works, waiting for the day when Theo will come home. And with World War II nearly won, that day is almost here. Grandpa Fitz warns Charlie that soldiers sometimes come back missing a piece of themselves, but Charlie isn’t worried. Whatever Theo has lost, Charlie will help him find it.
When Theo finally does return, though, he is cold and distant. But Charlie refuses to accept that the brother he knew is gone, and soon, he discovers the reason for his brother’s change: war wolves. Terrifying ancient beasts who consume the hearts of those broken by grief.
The wolves have followed soldiers back home from the front. And if Charlie truly wants to save Theo, he’s going to have to find them and get his brother’s heart back. But can a heart that’s been eaten ever be replaced?
A WWII London Setting: As Charlie navigates the rubble-strewn streets of his city, scarred by the Blitz, he discovers the war has left deeper wounds than anyone knows.Brotherhood and Sacrifice: Theo was Charlie’s hero. Now that he’s back from the war, Charlie will do anything to save him—even if it means facing down mythical monsters.A Powerful Modern Folktale: Discover the war wolves—ancient beasts that feed on sorrow—in a story that uses fantasy to explore the very real costs of war on a soldier's heart.Dealing with Grief and Trauma: A heartfelt and poignant look at how a family copes with loss and PTSD, perfect for readers who love emotionally resonant stories.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eleven-year-old Charlie, a cued white English boy living in bombed-out 1945 London, helps his mother care for his grandfather Fritz, a wounded WWI veteran prone to trauma-induced trances, and desperately awaits his older sibling Theo's return from war. But when the reunion day arrives, Charlie hardly recognizes the mirthless soldier who returns, wounded by a grenade and with PTSD-like symptoms. Fear subsequently creeps into Charlie's shock and disappointment as he notices huge, wolflike beasts lurking in the shadows of his city. When "Mad Mellie," a local woman whose son died in the Blitz, lets slip that war wolves are involved in taking the hearts of returning soldiers, Charlie gains both a name for the monsters he's been seeing and a steadfast resolve, alongside his clever cat Biscuits, to bargain his brother's heart back from those who took it. In this poetic debut, Sandstrom tells a story that is equally tender and terrifying, balancing a family's emotional gravity with the chilling war wolves. With moody occasional illustrations by Shin, a relaxed pace, and tender prose, this historical fantasy expertly employs anxiety and empathy to demonstrate war's devastating effect on individuals and families. Ages 8–12.
